Page 203 of Sage Haven

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A wet, choking sound followed.

Final.

And then… silence.

I didn’t move. Didn’t breathe.

I remained there, inside the cold metal of the freezer, my body beyond exhaustion. The cold seeping deeper. Into marrow. Into memory. Even if this was a rescue, it was too late.

I was too far gone.

I had already given up.

My mind had already checked out.

The stranger turned back to me.

Brow furrowed, his gaze sharp as it studied my face.

And he saw it. The hollow in my eyes. The quiet surrender.

And then—he spoke.

Two words. Soft. Like a ghost. "Thank you."

I blinked. Confused. The words didn’t make sense.

Who was he talking to? Me? Because of Hugh?

I didn’t have time to ask. Because then, there was another voice.

Another name.

"Reich!"

My breath stuttered. My heart stopped.

I knew that name. I knew it better than my own heartbeat.

And then he was there.

Reich.

But not the Reich I had always seen.

This Reich was different.

He wasn’t his typical collected self. He was stripped down. Raw. His face was carved from violence and ruin. His eyes wild and feral, gleaming with something I couldn’t name. He looked like a man who had lost everything—and was prepared to burn the world to get it back.

Blood coated his hands. Streaked his throat. Spattered across his chest like war paint. His eyes showed that he didn’t care. Not about that. Not about anything—except me.

He moved like a predator. But when he reached me—when his hands finally touched me—they were shaking.

He dropped to his knees, gathering me in his arms, as if afraid I’d slip through his fingers if he wasn’t careful.

As if I were glass already cracked and he was trying to hold me together with his bare hands.

I collapsed against him, my frozen body melting into his heat.

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